Who Needed an AR-15 Rifle? These Folks

Connecticut/United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- Recently, anti-Second Amendment extremist Chris Murphy, a Senator from Connecticut, tweeted two of the usual canards that emerge when anti-Second Amendment fanatics want to push a semi-auto ban. He claimed that nobody needs a semi-automatic rifle for hunting or personal protection, and that the only person who needed a semi-automatic rifle was a mass shooter.

Well, to be honest, that tweet went beyond usual canards.

In fact, that tweet was a despicable and dehumanizing lie directed at millions of Americans who own modern multi-purpose semi-automatic rifles – not to mention semi-automatic shotguns or handguns. These millions of Americans never shot up a school, mosque, church, concert, or movie theater, yet they are defamed as “domestic terrorists” and “child killers” by anti-Second Amendment extremists because they exercise their First Amendment rights against the unjust punishment that has taken place in places like England and Australia, and which will probably take place in New Zealand.

First of all, at least for the present (thanks to Heller and McDonald), we don’t have to demonstrate why we “need” a given firearm to the government. Now, I’m sure some anti-Second Amendment extremists dream of the day where a “needs-based licensing system” not only forces those who wish to purchase firearms have to justify each new gun they want, but also compels those who own firearms must similarly explain why they should be able to keep the firearms they already own.

It’s patently absurd. There are several case studies which can show instances where law-abiding citizens in need of a firearm for personal protection have turned to the AR-15. One of the most notable was the case of Zachary Phillips of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. When three armed intruders broke into his house, he used his AR-15 to protect himself and his father. The three intruders died, and their getaway driver now faces three murder charges.

Without that AR-15, what might have happened? Nothing good for Mr. Phillips and his dad… and since the intruders had knives and brass knuckles (the former responsible for almost four times as many deaths as rifles of all types in 2017 according to Justice Department statistics), it’s highly doubtful that their trauma (or deaths) would have mattered to Murphy or any other anti-Second Amendment extremist.

Or how about an unidentified neighbor/good Samaritan in Kendall County, Illinois? A pregnant woman and her husband were attacked by a knife-wielding assailant. After hearing the shouts, a neighbor grabbed his modern multi-purpose semi-automatic rifle and intervened. The assailant fled at the sight of the armed neighbor and was later taken into custody. Again, had Murphy gotten his way, two people would be dead. Since the assailant was using a knife… again, their death would not have mattered to anti-Second Amendment extremists.

Then there is a very scary incident in Glen St. Mary, Florida, one which was far less tragic than it could have been thanks to an AR-15 in the hands of a good guy. When seven intruders forced their way into a home, two of the residents returned fire. One had a nine-millimeter pistol, the other had an AR-15. After a flurry of gunfire, one of the suspects was dead, another was wounded, and the rest fled. At least one of the home invasion suspects was armed with a gun. Again, if Murphy and other anti-Second Amendment extremists had their way, these residents would have been traumatized – or worse. In this case, the would-be victims would have also found themselves as pawns for those who sought to deny them the chance to exercise the right that arguably saved their lives.

This is to say nothing about the use of the AR-15 for hunting, for three-gun matches, other competitions, or even just for some informal plinking. Millions of Americans take part in all of these lawful activities, using AR-15s and similar modern multi-purpose semi-automatic rifles. Yet Chris Murphy dehumanizes them with the slander that they are all just latent mass killers.

I don’t know about anyone else here, but that strikes me as some weapons-grade cynicism at best. For Murphy to slander millions so easily that speaks to a basic lack of decency and humanity. Indeed, Murphy’s tweet, like Eric Swalwell’s a while ago, speak to the other, admittedly drastic reason people might need to own AR-15s: To give them a fighting chance against those who would wrongfully and tyrannically take away their rights.

About Harold Hutchison

Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.

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